Bainbridge High School FFA member Taylor Barber was honored during the Georgia Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Gala held March 17 at Southern Bridle Farms in Fort Valley. Barber was recognized for winning the Grand Champion Market Steer Award at the 2018 Georgia Junior National Livestock Show held Feb. 24 in Perry.

Barber, a junior, was one of 10 livestock exhibitors the GFB Foundation for Agriculture honored during its fourth annual gala for winning grand champion prizes at state 4-H & FFA livestock shows during the 2017/2018 show season. The GFB Foundation for Agriculture presented Barber with a $5,000 prize and a grand champion belt buckle for winning the market steer show. “Georgia Farm Bureau has been a long-time sponsor of the 4-H and FFA programs. We want to encourage kids to show livestock because our organization understands that the kids who are showing livestock today will be Georgia’s future agricultural community,” GFB President Gerald Long said. “Showing livestock is teaching these students responsibility and leadership while they make lifelong friends.”

Barber, the daughter of Jeff and Leslie Barber of Bainbridge, has been showing livestock for 12 years. She won the Georgia Junior National Livestock Show Grand Champion Market Barrow Award in 2013 and 2017. Mark Lashley, Martin Bius and Farrish Mulkey are her FFA teachers. Founded in 1937, Georgia Farm Bureau advocates for the men and women who produce our food and fiber. GFB offers its members a wide variety of member benefits, including insurance, but enrollment in any of the benefits is not a requirement for membership

The GFB Foundation for Agriculture is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation. Donations are tax-exempt. The foundation funds activities and educational materials that increase the agricultural literacy of Georgia residents.

Donations may be made on the foundation website at http://www.gfbfoundation.org or checks made payable to the GFB Foundation for Agriculture may be mailed to the GFB Foundation care of Katie Duvall at P.O. Box 7068 Macon, Ga. 31209.